Competing theories of action for school change in Chicago: business-oriented, teaching-and-learning, community-dialogue/equity, and parental-control views¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report organizes Chicago school-reform actors' views of school change into a typology of competing theories of action. The Challenge's own theory emphasized school-site autonomy, restructuring of time, size, and isolation, and networked school collaboration. By contrast, "The city's political and district leaders typically expressed a view of school change in business-oriented terms," higher-education leaders focused on the primacy of teaching and learning, and community actors split between broad equity dialogue and parental/community control of schools. The report uses this typology to assess the Challenge's legitimacy and potential influence.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A reform organization seeking influence must map its theory of action against the theories held by other institutional actors in its environment

Constraints¶

• The typology is specific to Chicago's institutional context in the late 1990s as reported by the interviewed leaders

Target Learners¶

• civic, business, political, and education leaders shaping urban school reform

Target Learning Objectives¶

• understanding how institutional contexts shape large-scale school improvement strategies

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Four topical areas organize Chicago school reform research: governance, teaching and learning, quality of schools, and systemic change
• Three eras of Chicago school reform: Decentralization, Accountability, Diversification
• Four types of local school politics in Chicago elementary schools under the 1988 reform
• Informal social learning networks as the coordinating mechanism of systemwide improvement

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Dorothy Shipps, Karin Sconzert, with Holly Swyers. (1999). The Chicago Annenberg Challenge: The First Three Years. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/chicago-annenberg-challenge-first-three-years